Bhaag Milkha Bhaag[6] (English: "Run Milkha Run") is a 2013 Indian biographical sports drama film produced and directed byRakeysh Omprakash Mehra from a script written by Prasoon Joshi based on the life of Milkha Singh, an Indian athlete who was a national champion runner and an Olympian. The film stars Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor, Meesha Shafi, Divya Dutta, Pavan Malhotra, Yograj Singh and Prakash Raj.

Made on a budget of  300 million (US$5.0 million),[4] the film released on 12 July 2013 and gathered a positive response from critics and audiences alike. It also performed very well at the box office, eventually being declared a "super hit" domestically and hit overseas.[7][8][9][10] Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is the sixth highest grossing 2013 Bollywood film worldwide [11]  and became the twenty-first film to gross  1 billion (US$17 million).

Singh and his daughter, Sonia Sanwalka, co-wrote his autobiography, titled The Race of My Life.[12] The book inspired Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, a 2013 biographical film of Singh's life.[13][14][15] Singh sold the film rights for one rupee but inserted a clause stating that a share of the profits would be given to the Milkha Singh Charitable Trust.

[16] The Trust was founded in 2003 with the aim of assisting poor and needy sportspeople.[17]

Contents  [hide] 

1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production

o 3.1 Developmento 3.2 Castingo 3.3 Filming

4 Soundtracko 4.1 Marketing

5 Release 6 Critical response

o 6.1 Indiao 6.2 International

7 Box officeo 7.1 Indiao 7.2 Overseas

8 Controversyo 8.1 Awards and honors

9 See also 10 Notes 11 References 12 External links

Plot[edit]

The film starts in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, where a coach says "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag!", and the story is

taken back to the memories of the childhood days of a young boy which haunted him, resulted in him dropping to third. Partition of India in 1947 caused chaos which resulted in mass religious violence in Punjab in British India, killing the parents of Milkha Singh (Farhan Akhtar). He reaches Delhi and later meets his sister there. Living in impoverished refugee camps, Milkha soon makes friends and survives by stealing with his friends. He falls in love with Biro (Sonam Kapoor) but she asks him to live a life of honesty. Milkha finally finds himself in the army where he gets noticed by a Havaldar (Sergeant) after he wins a race in which top 10 runners will get milk, two eggs and excused from exercise. He gets selected for service commission where he gets miffed and also gets beaten up by senior players whom he had defeated earlier, on the day before selection of Indian team for Olympics. In spite of being injured he still participates in the race, overcoming his pain he wins the race thus breaking the national record.

During the Melbourne 1956 Olympics he gets attracted to the granddaughter of his Australian technical coach, and after a frolicking night in a bar he has a one-night stand with her. The following day he feels exhausted from the previous night's activities and loses the final race. He realizes his

mistake. Suffering from guilt he even slaps himself in front of a mirror. On the flight back to India he asks his coach what the world record is for the 400m race and learns that it is 45.90 seconds. He trains hard with a firm determination and wins in several places. He then breaks the previous world record for the 400m race with a dashing time of 45.80 seconds. Then Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Prime Minister of India convinces him to lead the Indian team in Pakistan for a friendly race. In Pakistan he misses the press conference and goes to his village where in a flashback it is shown how his parents were murdered and the last words of his father were "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag!" He starts crying and is comforted by a boy who turns out to be his childhood friend's son. He also meets his friend - Sampreet. In the games, initially the Pakistani favorite is winning, but Milkha takes the lead eventually overtaking opponents one by one, taking a convincing lead and winning both the race and respect of the two nation's people. The then president of Pakistan, General Ayub Khan (President of Pakistan), impressed by his effort gives him the title "The Flying Sikh". Jawaharlal Nehru also declares a day in the name of Milkha as "National Holiday" as desired by Milkha himself.

Cast[edit]

Farhan Akhtar  as Milkha Singh

Japtej Singh as young Milkha

Hikaru Ito  as Emperor of Japan

Meesha Shafi  as Perizaad

Divya Dutta  as Isri Kaur, Milkha's elder sister

Pavan Malhotra  as Hawaldar (Constable) Gurudev Singh, Milkha's coach during his days in the Indian Army

Yograj Singh  as Ranveer Singh, Milkha's coach

Sonam Kapoor  as Biro, Milkha's fleeting love interest

Art Malik  as Sampooran Singh, Milkha's father

Prakash Raj  as Veerapandian

K.K.Raina  as Mr. Wadhwa

Rebecca Breeds  as Stella

Dalip Tahil  as Jawaharlal Nehru

Dev Gill  as Abdul Khaliq

Nawab Shah  as Javed, Abdul's coach

Loy Mendonsa  in a special appearance in the song "Slow Motion Angreza"

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra  in a special appearance as a pilot

Production[edit]

Development[edit]

After the release of Delhi-6 (2009), director Om Prakash Mehra started developing two projects, a historical love story, Mirza Sahiban, and a biopic of Milkha Singh. However subsequently the biopic developed better, and he chose the latter. Prasoon Joshi, who co-wrote Delhi-6 with Mehra, also started working on the script.[18] Joshi later clarified that the film's title, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Run Milkha Run) was never actually spoken by Milkha's father, rather, it was phrase coined by him, and has been used liberally throughout the narrative.[19]

"This film is not a mirror of Milkha Singh's life. It is an interpretation of his life."-Prasoon Joshi (screenwriter)[19]

Growing up in Delhi, Mehra was familiar with anecdotes from the life of Milkha Singh, the ace runner popular as "Flying Sikh". He used to visit the National Stadium, Delhi for swimming, where Singh also came for his practice. Gradually, he came to know details regarding his early life, including how he witnessed his entire family being killed during the partition, and travelled alone to Delhi as a refugee. Mehra started developing the project as personal story rather than a sports film, around the theme of "zindagi se bhago nahin, zindagi ke saath bhago", "Don't run away

from life, run with life", depicting his life from 13 to 28 years. For research, he visited Chandigarh several times, where he talked for several hours with Singh. Jeev Milkha Singh, the son of Milkha Singh and a notable golfer, arranged his meetings with the family members.[18] Milkha Singh refused a large offer for allowing his story to be made into a film, and charged a token amount of  1 (1.7¢ US), as he believed if the film could "inspire our young people and result in India's first Olympic track gold, that would [be] reward enough for him."[20]

It took the next two and half years to write the story of the film.[21] According to the director, it is not a sports film, but a film about human spirit.[22] It is about a story of a boy who lost his parents at the age of 12.Casting[edit]

In 2010, early contenders of the lead role were Abhishek Bachchan and Akshay Kumar. While Bachchan was preferred by Mehra, the latter was preferred by Milkha Singh himself. However, Mehra deferred the final decision on the cast till the final script was completed.[23] However, after months of search,[21] in September 2011, the principal cast of the film were announced, and actor-director Farhan Akhtar and Sonam Kapoor bagged the lead roles.

Thereafter, Akhtar even visited Punjab to meet Milkha Singh and his family.[24]Before deciding, Akhtar met Mehra once for a story session, and immediately agreed to play the role.[25] He was inspired by Milkha Singh's life, and later underwent extensive physical training for the role.[22]

Pakistani actress and singer, Meesha Shafi who got fame after her song Alif Allah (Jugni), also played RAW agent in the hit Pakistani film Waar and recently made her Hollywooddebut with The Reluctant Fundamentalist was selected for the role of Perizaad (Milkha Singh's best friend).Filming[edit]

The principal photography of the film commenced in February 2012 and mainly took place in Punjab, India, with some scenes shot in Delhi, Tokyo, Melbourne andRome.[26]

[27][28][29]

International company ReelSports coordinated the sports action for the film and cast all the elite runners.

Soundtrack[edit]

Main article: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (soundtrack)

The music and the background score for the film were composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, their first film collaboration with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra.

The soundtrack features seven tracks with lyrics written by Prasoon Joshi. The audio was released by Sony Music on 14 June 2013, on digital platforms including iTunes and Amazon.Marketing[edit]

Farhan Akhtar and director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra launched the movie's official mobile game at the Reliance Digital electronics store in Times Square on 3 August 2013.[30]

Release[edit]

The film released on 12 July 2013. The film released in 1200 screens worldwide including 140 screens in USA .[31]

Maharashtra government and Madhya Pradesh government granted Entertainment tax exemption to Bhaag Milkha Bhaag on 20 July 2013.[9][32][33][34] On 24 July 2013, the Delhi government also announced tax exemption for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.[35][36][37] On 25 July 2013, Goa government gave tax-free status to the film for three months.[38][39] On 29 July 2013, Haryana government also made the film tax-free in the state.[40][41][42] On 1 August 2013, Uttar Pradesh government approved a proposal to exempt Bhaag

Milkha Bhaag from entertainment tax in two installments or for a maximum period of two months.[43]

Critical response[edit]

India[edit]

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics.[44]

Subhash K Jha of IANS gave the film 5 out of 5 stars and stated, "The movie seems like a near-flawless homage to the flying spirit of India's greatest runner, it is partly because the story, so nimbly woven into a pastiche of drama, emotion, humor and pathos by Prasoon Joshi and Farhan who occupies Milkha's mind, body and soul."[45] Bollywood Hungama's Taran Adarsh predicted that it would "win accolades, admiration, respect and esteem, besides emerging as a champ",[46] while Sneha May Francis of Emirates 24/7gave the film a thumbs up, saying that the film is "truly epic", and that "despite the prestigious Olympic glory eluding him, Mehra deservedly honors the runner’s other victories and impeccable talent, allowing us to applaud the prodigy."[47] Desimartini, with almost 5000 ratings by the end of the weekend stated the following about the film: "Superbly directed,Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is an outstanding film with an incredible performance by Farhan Akhtar.

Though long, it keeps you hooked throughout. Don't miss this patriotic tribute to Milkha Singh."

Madhureeta Mukherjee of The Times of India stated, "While you are on-the-run, pause to watch this one."[48] The India Today review concluded, "Go and run with Milkha. In this fast-paced life, this race will definitely soothe your senses."[49] Sify's Vijay Sinha praised the film, judging "Bhaag Milkha Bhaag should get even drug-addled Punjab flocking to the cinemas."[50] Gayatri Sankar of Zee News wrote, "If you are a patriotic Indian, you will be left teary eyed and your head held high."[51] Yahoo! Movies' review summed up, "Mehra has helmed 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' into a compelling story and an exemplar of cinematic brilliance; that it is also an inspiring tale almost seems to be a by-product."[52]

Actor Shahrukh Khan called the film "a lovely experience" and described the performance of Akhtar as "inspirational".[53] Hrithik Roshan also praised his performance, and deemed the film to be "phenomenal".[54] Veteran actor Amitabh Bachchan highly praised the film on his blog, describing it as "too emotionally and creatively moving to put anything down in words".[55] Carl Lewis watched Bhaag

Milkha Bhaag in the US and called Milkha Singh in India to express his appreciation for the film and the athlete.[56]

Aseem Chhabra of Rediff.com gave the film a mixed review and reasoned that film does not offer anything new. However, he praised Akhtar's performance, writing "If there is one reason to see BMB it is to watch Akhtar – how much he has evolved as an actor and the sincerity with which he immerses himself in the character."[57] NDTV echoed the same sentiment, "Bhaag Milkha Singh is a 400 meters sprint that feels like a cross-country race."[58] Despite praising the technical aspects and music of the film, Rajeev Masand ofCNN-IBN criticized the film for its length: "The film itself is well intentioned and shines a light on an important figure. The film is an ambitious account of the first 27 years or so of celebrated Indian sprinter Milkha Singh's roller-coaster life. But it's too long and too unfocused to leave a lasting impression."[59][60]

International[edit]

Robert Abele of the Los Angeles Times described the film as "a stirring bio of Milkha Singh",[61] while Nicolas Rapold of The New York Times said that, "the movie strikes its chosen couple of notes resoundingly, making clear what makes Singh run."[62] Twitch Film's review said, "[..]in the

grand scheme of things. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag is easily one of the best mainstream films to come out of Bollywood this year."[63] Scott Foundas of Variety described the film as "rousing and handsomely crafted biopic".[64] Lisa Tsering of The Hollywood Reporter opined that the biopic "requires viewer endurance, but pays off with an exhilarating climax."[65] Digital Spy praised the film and said, "It is a blessing that this film was made and the inspiring story of India's greatest sporting hero told to a generation who might otherwise never have known the legend of 'The Flying Sikh.'"[66] Los Angeles Times stated that there's enough dramatic restraint and performance charm to give Singh his due as a justifiably glorified figure in India's independence.[67]

Washington Post stated that The Bollywood import dramatizes the life of famed Indian sprinter Milkha Singh.[68]

The Hollywood Reporter says that The three-hour sports biopic about India’s most famous runner requires viewer endurance, but pays off with an exhilarating climax.[69]

Box office[edit]

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag grossed  1.64 billion (US$28 million) worldwide, and is the sixth highest-grossing 2013 Bollywood film.[70][71]

India[edit]

The film opened very well at multiplexes across India, especially in Punjab and Delhi.[72] It earned approximately 85 million (US$1.4 million) on its first day. The film showed a 21-percent growth and earned  105 million (US$1.8 million) on the second day of its box office run.[73] Bhaag Milka Bhaag grossed approximately  317 million (US$5.3 million) nett over its first weekend,[74] and earned a total of  55 million (US$920,000) nett on Monday. Its four-day gross amounted to  365 million (US$6.1 million) nett.[75] Bhaag Milkha Bhaag ended its first week with a total collection of approximately  535 million (US$9.0 million) nett.[76][76] It collected around  35 million (US$590,000) nett on its eighth day.[77] It collected  55 million (US$920,000) nett on its second Saturday.[32] The ten-day domestic business of the film was  695 million (US$12 million) nett approx.[9][78] The film grossed around  279.80 million (US$4.7 million) nett in its second week taking its total collections to  810 million (US$14 million).[78][79] It had grossed over  900 million (US$15 million) nett in 17 days as it grossed around 

95 million (US$1.6 million) nett in its third weekend.[11] The film added  15 million (US$250,000) nett approx in its third week to take its nett gross to  964 million (US$16 million).[80]

[81] The film grossed  1.02 billion (US$17 million) nett in 24 days as it added around  50 million (US$840,000) nett in its fourth weekend.[70]

Overseas[edit]

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag grossed around $1.4 million over its first weekend.[82] The film grossed US$647,112 in its first week of release in the United States, and debuted at the 15th spot at the box office.[83] Bhaag Milkha Bhaag has done well in Overseas with collections of around $2.7 million. The film has done well in US.[84] The film has done overseas business of over US$3.5 million and has been declared Hit.[85] The final overseas business is around US$3.8 million[86]

Controversy[edit]

The film's song "Maston Ka Jhund" has landed into controversy after a Hindu organization, Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), a right wing organization took objection to the use of the word "havan" in the song. They alleged that the word havan (Yagya) has been used in a derogatory manner. Their reference is to the allegedly 'obscene' actions that the

actors performed in the song. Demonstrations were held in Goa regarding the issue.[87]

Although film mentions that Milkha Singh held men's 400 meters world record, however Men's 400 metres world record progression does not mention Milkha Singh's name in the world record holders. It is shown that Ranbir Singh (Milkha Singh's coach) mentions world record as 45.9 sec after 1952 Olympics; while Milkha eventually bested that time in the 1956 Olympics with a personal record of 45.73 sec, the newest world record was 45.2 sec set by Lou Jones of United States, the first place winner in the same race.[88]

Gurbachan Singh Randhawa, renowned athlete, who was part of Indian team at Rome Olympics mentions that the claim made in movie about Milkha Singh leading the 400 meters race and he lost it as he looked behind, is factually incorrect. In fact he never led the race and he was at fifth position at 300 meters.[88] The race video is also available on YouTube.[89]

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag CBFC Certificate showing the "U" Universal Certification

Certain members of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) boycotted a workshop held in accordance with Information and Broadcast Ministry's wish citing partially of some officials of the censor board particularly regarding the certificate given to the film, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag which in spite of a sex scene and some violence got an U certificate[a] lashing out and criticising the decisions of the censor examining member and former actress, Sharmila Tagore accusing CEO Pankaja Thakur along with some other board officials being puppet controlled by film directors and promoting vulgarity.[91] As a consequence to the incident the Delhi High Court sought an explanation from the I&B ministry and the CBFC regarding the escalating levels of vulgarity in recent times.[91][92]

Awards and honors[edit]

Year

Award Ceremony

Award Film/Notes Result

2014 National Film Awards [93]

Best Popular Film Providing

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

Won

Year

Award Ceremony

Award Film/Notes Result

Wholesome Entertainment

59th Filmfare Awards [94]

Best FilmBhaag Milkha Bhaag

Won

59th Filmfare Awards [94]

Best FilmBhaag Milkha Bhaag

Won

59th Filmfare Awards

Best DirectorRakesh Omprakash Mehra

Won

59th Filmfare Awards

Best ActorFarhan Akhthar

Won

59th Filmfare Awards

Best Lyrics Prasoon Joshi Won

Year

Award Ceremony

Award Film/Notes Result

59th Filmfare Awards

R D Burman Award

Siddarth Mahadevan

Won

59th Filmfare Awards

Best CostumeDolly Ahluwalia

Won

59th Filmfare Awards

Best Production Design

Acropolis Design

Won

20th Screen Awards

Best FilmBhaag Milkha Bhaag

Won

20th Screen Awards

Best Actor Farhan Akhtar Won

20th Screen Awards

Best Background

Shankar Ehsaan Loy

Won

Year

Award Ceremony

Award Film/Notes Result

Music

15th IIFA Awards

Best FilmBhaag Milkha Bhaag

Won

See also[edit]

Paan Singh Tomar

Milkha Singh

Notes[edit]

1. Jump up^ "U" means in CFBC terminology unrestricted public exhibition or Universal video, equivalent to MPAA's G and PG ratings and BBFC's U and PG ratings.[90]